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Prof. Milton Friedman


Self Description

January 2006: "Milton Friedman, recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize for Economic Science, has been a Senior Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, since 1977. He is also Paul Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1946 to 1976, and was a member of the research staff of the National Bureau of Economic Research from 1937 to 1981.

Professor Friedman was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 and received the National Medal of Science the same year.

He is widely regarded as the leader of the Chicago School of monetary economics, which stresses the importance of the quantity of money as an instrument of government policy and as a determinant of business cycles and inflation.

In addition to his scientific work, Professor Friedman has also written extensively on public policy, always with primary emphasis on the preservation and extension of individual freedom. His most important books in this field are (with Rose D. Friedman) Capitalism and Freedom (University of Chicago Press, 1962); Bright Promises, Dismal Performance (Thomas Horton and Daughters, 1983), which consists mostly of reprints of tri-weekly columns that he wrote for Newsweek from 1966 to 1983; and (with Rose Friedman) Free to Choose (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980), which complements a ten-part TV series of the same name, shown over PBS in early 1980, and (with Rose D. Friedman) Tyranny of the Status Quo (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1984), which complements a three-part TV series of the same name, shown over PBS in early 1984.

He was a member of the President's Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force (1969-70) and of the President's Commission on White House Fellows (1971-73). He was a member of President Reagan's Economic Policy Advisory Board, a group of experts outside the government, named in early 1981 by President Reagan.

He has also been active in public affairs, serving as an informal economic adviser to Senator Goldwater in his unsuccessful campaign for the presidency in 1964, to Richard Nixon in his successful campaign in 1968, to President Nixon subsequently, and to Ronald Reagan in his 1980 campaign. He has published many books and articles, most notably A Theory of the Consumption Function (University of Chicago Press, 1957), The Optimum Quantity of Money and Other Essays (Aldine, 1969), and (with A. J. Schwartz) A Monetary History of the United States (Princeton University Press, 1963), Monetary Statistics of the United States (Columbia University Press, 1970), and Monetary Trends in the United States and the United Kingdom (University of Chicago Press, 1982).

Professor Friedman is a past president of the American Economic Association, the Western Economic Association, and the Mont Pelerin Society, and is a member of the American Philosophical Society and of the National Academy of Sciences.

He also has been awarded honorary degrees by universities in the United States, Japan, Israel, and Guatemala, as well as the Grand Cordon of the First Class Order of the Sacred Treasure by the Japanese government in 1986.

Friedman received a B.A. in 1932 from Rutgers University, an M.A. in 1933 from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in 1946 from Columbia University."

Third-Party Descriptions

January 2006: ...[earned-income tax credit--Ed.] is a kind of negative income tax, first advocated by Milton Friedman, the Nobel-winning economist, and championed by President Ronald Reagan as the government's best program to encourage the poor to improve their circumstances through work.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/11/business/11tax.html

Relationships

RoleNameTypeLast Updated
Organization Head/Leader (past or present) American Economic Association (AEA) Organization Jan 11, 2006
Member of (past or present) American Philosophical Society (APS) Organization Jan 11, 2006
Student/Trainee (past or present) Columbia University Organization Jan 11, 2006
Employee/Freelancer/Contractor (past or present) Hoover Institution Organization Jan 11, 2006
Member of (past or present) National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Organization Jan 11, 2006
Employee/Freelancer/Contractor (past or present) National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Organization Jan 11, 2006
Student/Trainee (past or present) Rutgers University Organization Jan 11, 2006
Employee/Freelancer/Contractor (past or present) Stanford University Organization
Employee/Freelancer/Contractor (past or present) Student/Trainee (past or present) University of Chicago Organization Jan 11, 2006
Member of (past or present) White House (Presidential advisory staff) Organization
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) Senator Barry Goldwater Person Jan 11, 2006
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) President Richard M. Nixon Person Jan 11, 2006
Advisor/Consultant to (past or present) President Ronald Wilson Reagan Person Jan 11, 2006

Articles and Resources

Date Fairness.com Resource Read it at:
Mar 22, 2007 Utah heats up long-simmering school-voucher debate

QUOTE: Governor has signed into law the first 'universal' voucher program in the US...Proponents argue that families should be able to apply some tax dollars to whatever school they choose. Opponents insist that public money should be used only for public schools, rather than to subsidize private and religious institutions.

 Christian Science Monitor
Jan 11, 2006 I.R.S. Move Said to Hurt the Poor

QUOTE: Tax refunds sought by 1.6 million poor Americans over the last five years were frozen and their returns labeled fraudulent, although the vast majority appear to have done nothing wrong, the Internal Revenue Service's taxpayer advocate told Congress yesterday.

 New York Times
Oct 05, 2005 Social Responsibility Doesn't Much Sway the Balance Sheet

QUOTE: ...when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions or raising wages in developing nations -- tougher problems that result in lower returns for investors or higher costs for consumers -- the market for corporate virtue remains limited....If we want them enough to pay the price -- and that's always a question -- the only fair and reliable way to get them is still through old-fashioned government regulation.

 Washington Post
Oct 07, 2002 Court to Review Copyright Law

QUOTE: Experts on both sides of the closely watched case say that its outcome could reshape the way cultural products are consumed and how their profits are divided.

 New York Times